Toy



. ITY

Joseph Benedict Dnbitsky, Lincoln Park, Mich. Application June 24, 1957, Serial No. 667,558

3 Claims. or. 214 358) This invention relates to a toy vehicle having a body structure which is adapted to contain sand; .dirt or similar. granular material, together with a scoop structure which can be automatically actuated by movement of the vehicle to load the granular material intothe body structure.

Objects of the invention are to provide a toy of the above type, wherein:

(1) The action of the toy is such as to require a certain degree of skill or dexterity on the part; of the child operating the toy, thereby teaching him to coordinate his physical and mental activities, and enabling him to achieve a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment,

(2) The toy is of relatively simple, low cost construction,'capable of manufacture without expensive dies or molding equipment. 7

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of the invention, with parts broken away along line 1--1 in Fig. 3,

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1, but with a scoop structure in lowered position for loading granular material,

Fig. 3 is atop plan view of the Fig. l embodiment,

Fig. 4 is a plan view of a blank structure employed in the Fig. 1 embodiment.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

In the drawings there is shown a toy vehicle comprising a wooden vehicle body 12. Body 12 includes a floor board 14, front wall 16, side walls 18 and 20, and back wall 22, which cooperate with each other to form a recess 24 for carrying sand, dirt or similar granular material.

Vehicle body 12 is supported for horizontal movement over ground surface 26 by means of two wooden wheels 28 and 30, which are connected together by an axle 32 rotatably journaled in blocks 34 and 36 attached to the underside of floor board 14. An elongated wooden rod 38 (about fifteen inches in length) extends upwardly and forwardly from body 12 to form a handle structure which may be grasped by the child to propel the toy vehicle forwardly and rearwardly. Wheels 28 and 30 are provided with flat rubber rings 40 for increased traction on the ground surface.

Floor board 14 extends rearwardly beyond wall portion 42 which is rectangularly cut away at 44 to formtioned between these extensions and carries a groundengaging roller 52. In the Fig. l non-tilted position of body 12 roller 52 is spaced above ground surface 26, but when body 12 is moved to the Fig. 2 tilted position roller 52 is put into tractive engagement with the ground surface. Roller, 52 is provided with a tightly fitting rubber sleeve 53 for increased traction with surface 26.

The side surfaces of roller 52 have fixedly secured thereto two spaced metal arms 54 and 56 which are interconnected together at their outer ends by means of two angularly related walls 58 and 60. Arms 54 and 56 cooperate with walls 58 and 60 to form a scoop structure for loading the granular material into vehicle recess 24. Walls 58 and 60 form the shovel portion of the scoop structure.

The entire scoop structure may be conveniently formed from a single flat sheet of metal of the shape shown in Fig. 4. In the steps of formation the sheet is out along lines 62 and 64, after which arm sections 54 and 56 are bent upwardly from the plane of wall 58 along lines 66 and 68. Wall 60 is bent upwardly from the plane .of wall 58 around line 70 to complete the scoop structure.

In operation of vehicle 10 the child may move the vehicle back and forth in the Fig. 1 position in the manner of a conventional trundle toy. When the child desires to load granular material into recess 24 he lifts handle structure 38 so as to tilt the vehicle body into the Fig. 2- position wherein roller 52 is in tractive engagement with the ground surface. Thereafter, a manual push on the handle is effective to move the vehicle in the arrow 72 direction so as to drive roller 52 counterclockwise (via its tractive engagement with surface 26) in such manner as to pivot the scoop structure from the Fig.1 overturned position to the Fig. 2 lowered position. Continued movement of the vehicle in the arrow 72 direction causes shovel portions 58, 60 to move into a pile of granular material (not shown) so as to load up the scoop. Reverse movement of the vehicle (in the arrow 73 direction) causes roller 52 to rotate clockwise in such manner as to move the scoop structure back to the Fig. 1 position of overturnment above recess 24. The granular material is thereby allowed to be gravitationally loaded into the vehicle.

It will be noted that the roller 52 and scoop mech anism 54-60 are of simple low cost construction, susceptible of manufacture without expensive dies or molding equipment. As a result the scoop mechanism can be incorporated into an otherwise conventional toy vehicle without materially increasing overall costs.

I claim:

1. A toy comprising a vehicle body including a floor; a front wall, two side walls and a back wall extending upwardly from said floor to define therewith a recess for carrying granular material; a pair of axially aligned gound-engaging wheels supporting said vehicle body for horizontal movement while permitting said body to be tilted around the wheel axis; a handle projecting upwardly from the front end of the vehicle body for permitting manual movement of the vehicle; said vehicle including two spaced extensions projecting rearwardly from the back wall; a ground-engaging member rotatably mounted between said extensions and having an arcuate ground-engaging surface; said ground-engaging member having its ground-engaging surface spaced from the lowermost point on the wheels when the vehicle is in a non-tilted position; a pair of spaced parallel arms extending from said ground-engaging member in directions at right angles to the wheel axis; the free ends of said arms being connected by two angularly related wall elements, said wall elements forming a shovel structure for Patented Nov. 18, 1958 carrying granular material; whereby the handle may be,

grasped to tilt the vehicle body so as to put the groundengaging member into contact with the ground surface, after which the vehicle body can be moved along the ground with the aforementioned arcuate ground-engaging surface being frictionally drivenby its contact with the ground surface so asto move the shovel structure between a position on the ground and a position of overturnment above the vehicle body recess.

2. A toy comprising a vehicle body including a floor; a front wall, two side walls and a back wall extending upwardly from said floor to define therewith a recess for carrying granular material; a pair of axially aligned gound-engaging wheels supportingsaid vehicle body for horizontal movement while permitting said' body to be tilted around the wheel axis; said vehicle including two spaced extensions projecting rearwardly from the back wall; a ground engaging member rotatably mounted between said extensions and having an arcuate groundengaging surface; said ground-engaging member having its ground-engaging surface spaced from the lowermost point on the wheels when the vehicle is in a non-tilted position; a pair of spaced parallel arms extending from said ground-engaging member in directions at right angles to the wheel axis; a shovel structure carried on the free ends of said arms; whereby the vehicle body may be tilted so as to put the ground-engaging member into contact with the ground surface, after which the vehicle body can be moved forwardly along the ground with the aforementioned arcuate ground-engaging surface being frictionally driven by its contact with the ground surface so as to move the shovel structure between a position on the ground and a position of overturnrnent above the vehicle body recess.

3. Attoycomprisinga vehicle bodyincluding a. floor; a front wall, two side walls and a back wall extending upwardly from said floor to define therewith a recess for carrying granular material; a pair of axially aligned ground-engaging wheels supporting said vehicle body for horizontal movement while permitting said body to be tilted around the wheel axis; said vehicle including two spaced extensions projecting rearwardly from the back wall; a ground-engaging member rotatably mounted between said extensions and having an arcuate groundengaging surface; said ground-engaging member having its ground-engagingsurface spacedfrom the lowermost point on the Wheels when the vehicle is in a non-tilted position; an armstructure' extending from said groundengaging member in directions at right angles to the wheel axis; and a shovel structure carried by said arm structure; whereby the vehicle body may be tilted so as to put the ground-engaging member into contactwith the groundsurfacqafter whichthe vehicle body can be moved: forwardly'along the ground with the aforementioned arcuate ground-engaging. surface being frictionally driven by. its contact with the ground surface so as to move the shovel structure between a position on the ground and a position of overturnment above the vehicle body recess.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED" STATES PATENTS 1,031,949 Miller July 9, 1912 1,467,504 ,Sabarros Sept. 11, 1923 2,544,505 Kronhaus Mar. 6, 1951 2,693,051 Cavanagh Nov. 2, 1954 

